Q & A with CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie: Talking Halifax, CBA, playing games in Mexico

With the playoff picture finally becoming clearer as the Canadian Football League winds down into the final week of its regular season, there’s plenty to talk about – on and off the football field.

There’s positive news coming out of the Maritimes – which could be home to the CFL’s 10th franchise soon (big news could come out of Halifax Tuesday). There’s a threat from the new Alliance of American Football which is supposed to kick off its 10-game season in early February. There’s CFL 2.0, with the league looking to expand awareness, find players from other countries and maybe play regular-season games outside of Canada. And, most importantly, there’s a collective bargaining agreement that expires after this season.

We had some questions so we sat down with CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie in his office at CFL headquarters in Toronto.

Q: Talk about the CBA, what stage are we at in negotiations? Are there talks going on?

A: I talk to Brian Ramsay and Jeff Keeping – Brian’s the executive director and Jeff’s the president of the CFLPA, I talk to them quite frequently. We try to meet once a month, we don’t always get our meetings in, but we’ve been pretty reliable. We haven’t started negotiating because right now the players are busy – (we’re coming) off one of the most exciting regular-season weeks of not only just this season, but of any season with all that’s at stake. There’s a time when the season ends that we’ll have a conversation with the PA about getting down to business.

We do talk about things. We talk philosophically. We shared with them our business plan. We will share an update with them after the season so they know how it all went – what was the outcome of things we talked about doing with them? I want that kind of transparency. Some may say it’s all part of the negotiation process. I think it’s all part of the relationship process. Make sure you’re doing everything you can to talk to your partners about things you’re thinking about.

I was with Brian and Jeff before my trip to Mexico to talk about CFL 2.0 and what we were thinking about and why that can be important to the players – both current and in the future. Depending on your point of view, you might think all of that is part of a negotiation, I would characterize it as part of making sure you build a long-term foundation.

Randy Ambrosie.Julie Oliver /
Postmedia

Q: In the history of sports negotiations, talks always seem to go down to the wire, have both sides put a timeline on this?

A: No. I’ve said from the beginning, from my first day, I wanted to be the guy that liked the players as much or more than anyone else in the history of this league. I still feel that way. I want to build this league, I want to build the game. I want the CFL to grow – I want the players to help us to do that. I’m optimistic that in having a shared vision for the future of the league, we can get a good CBA negotiated with lots of time to execute our plan for the 2019 season.

Q: A lockout or walkout would not be good for a league that’s gaining momentum, you must want to avoid any negativity or turmoil?

A: That’s a good sentiment, it’s one I would suggest we share with the players – it’s not in either of our interests to stifle the positive momentum we have going and all the things that are possible. Assuming we can all agree that continuing to step on the accelerator and drive growth – TV ratings are up this year quite nicely, we’ve seen some fantastic football, injuries are down – you don’t have to look very far to find good news. Hopefully both sides would agree with that and we come to a place where we’re looking forward, not backward.

Q: What kind of a threat is the Alliance of American Football, which is offering its players three-year (non-guaranteed) contracts starting at $70,000 U.S. (approximately $92,000 Cdn) for the first season?

A: First, we have to step back and remind ourselves we have seen other leagues start up in the U.S. – this is not the first time we’ve seen this. Never disrespect or dismiss something that could have an effect on your business. As much as we have to be mindful of that league starting up, we have to focus on our own business plan.

We’re hoping in the days and years ahead, we’re not just going to be patrolling for talent in North America, we’re going to be looking for talent around the world – there are 30 countries in the world playing gridiron football. I just had a conversation with somebody that really knows the international scene and he said there are some wickedly interesting players that could be a great fit for the CFL.

Q: There are an inordinate number of expiring contracts coming up in the CFL, do you worry about some of these players, who could become free agents, taking the money and signing with the new league? How do you compete when a player who’s being paid $55,000 Cdn is offered $70,000 U.S.?

A: I think we can face a certainty that there will be player who’s played in our league who will play in a different league. That has existed before and the sun came up the next day. We’re going to have to build our game, to make our league as compelling, if not more compelling, than it’s ever been before. But that’s no different than the global talent reality that businesses all around us live in.

To find the best of the best, you have to work hard at it, you have to build a value proposition. I’m super conscious of the fact we will face pressure from that league, but I’m not viewing that from the lens that it’ll be a catastrophe. I’m looking at it through the lens that we’ll have to work hard – so let’s do that.

Q: The new league has a provision that players can get out of their contract to go to the NFL, but they can’t move to the CFL. Is that a slight?

A: I don’t feel that way about it. I talked to (league founder) Bill Polian about that. I have a great respect for Bill and we have a chance to chat from time to time. One of things we did agree on was we would honour each other’s contracts – much as the CFL and NFL always honoured each other’s contracts. Bill gave me his word that would be the case between his league and the CFL going forward. And I gave him my word that similarly we would respect their contracts.

CFL footballs.John Woods /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Q: CFL 2.0, explain it, what is it?

A: It was born in a series of conversations the governors and myself had about the changing world and the recognition that our nine CFL cities – hopefully one day our 10 CFL cities – are changing. As much as we all gave great passion for our great identity, cities like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are big international cities. All our cities we play in have an international awareness.

Look at what’s happened with something like the Premier League which came out of the English Football League and the explosion of success they had when they became a global league. Remember, the Premier League doesn’t have a lock on all the talent in the world so there’s lots of good soccer played. A conversation we had looked at the world junior hockey championship and how incredibly popular it is. Compare their TV ratings to the Memorial Cup – the ratings for the Memorial Cup, they’re tiny compared to the world juniors.

Look at the Ryder Cup and how big a global sporting event it is. International is a big thing. Add that 30 countries are now playing gridiron football, it’s growing around the world. The CFL should play a central role in the expansion of football around the world. We’re not second fiddle to anyone and if we are, it’s only because we’ve decided to be.

Look at hockey, prior to the 1972 was big in Canada – tell me it didn’t get bigger after we played the Russians. The idea was there was a big hockey-playing world out there.

Look at the NHL today. Compare it to 1971 when the names were all North American. Look at the rosters today – it’s a global league. All those things tell us, rather than being a Canadian-only league, we need to become an international league.

A general view of the stadium after the teams enter the pitch during the NFL International Series match between Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers at Wembley Stadium on October 21, 2018 in London, England.Clive Rose /
Getty Images

Q: Will you play a game in Mexico?

A: It’s part of the conversation, could we play as many as two regular-season games in Mexico in 2019? What would that look like? Right now, there are a lot of questions, not as many answers. It’s a green field filled with opportunity.

Q: You talk about a synergy being in place and playing games in Mexico, are you open to playing, perhaps, in Europe or somewhere else?

A: Yes. At this juncture, we would want to be progressive and open-minded. Somebody famous said, ‘The devil is in the details.’ But if the opportunity presents itself, we want to take the Canadian Football League out to the world and show them how great it is, we want to build fans around the world.

Q: The CFL once tried expanding into the U.S., would you consider that?

A: Right now, that isn’t what this concept is about. It’s a player-centric idea rather than being a physical team-centric idea. It’s about bringing players in to play this great game in Canada, sending players from here to play elsewhere. Maybe some players aren’t quite ready for the CFL, they can continue to develop their skills. That’s at the forefront of our Phase 1 – bring players here and give Canadian players a chance to play around the world. Ideally, we can start this as early as the 2019 season.

There looks to be an appetite, for example, in the LFA (Liga de Football Americano Profesional) to give some of our players a chance to go and play in Mexico. We want to give more Canadian kids a chance to develop their skills to play this great game – this is another way to open the door to more players.

Q: What’s going on with a bid from Halifax to become the CFL’s 10th team?

A: Six or seven weeks ago, the city manager (Jacques Dube) was given the green light to put together a stadium proposal for the regional council’s consideration Oct. 30 (Tuesday). Members of Maritime Football will be there to speak. Mayor Savage and regional council have been very supportive of this idea. We’re hoping Oct. 30 is a very positive day for the idea of football in the Atlantic region. Following that, there would be a plan to put out a season-ticket campaign.

CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie.Adrian Wyld /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Q: Do you see this happening, do you see them having a team?

A: I do. I do, but I have to preface that by saying I’m waving the big optimism flag. I love what they’re trying to do, I love the group that’s trying to do it. I’m hoping we’ll have a very good day for the CFL on Oct. 30. I’m feeling very good about it, but time will tell.

Q: Is there a chance that you could announce during Grey Cup that a conditional franchise will be awarded to the Maritime Group?

A: It’s too soon to say what might happen at Grey Cup. I want to be careful, I want to be respectful of our governors and I want to be respectful of all the people in the Atlantic region that are working on this. Suffice to say, we would all want to move this along as quickly as we can move it along – making sure we’re dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s every step of the way.

What I’m committed to doing is advancing this along as fast as we possibly can and being able to, in the earliest possible moments, share all the good news that can come from this process. This is one of those times where you’d rather be right than fast – that’s why I’ve said all along I won’t put an artificial time frame on this. All that would do is add pressure to something that already has enough pressure on its own.

Q: Are they talking 2021 to begin?

A: They want very much for this to be a regional team. The idea that it could be placed sooner in Moncton as an early home for what could then move into a new stadium – those things have all been talked about as part of an early process, but no decisions have been made.

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